Lehman Brothers Collection

About This Collection

Deal book, 1928.

One of the earliest investment banking firms in the United States, Lehman Brothers was known for its vision, innovation, and history. The Lehman Brothers Collection is an important resource for the study of modern business history and provides scholars with a rare opportunity to access twentieth-century corporate records

It is important to note that the Lehman Brothers Collection is not the comprehensive historical archive of Lehman Brothers, but rather a subset of materials selected from the company's historical record. The collection consists of two components: company deal book and business records.

The deal books document many of Lehman Brothers' notable investment projects from the 1920s to the 1980s. The deal books may include agreements between the sellers and underwriters, prospectuses and other literature advertising the offer, U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings, and correspondence. The Lehman Brothers business records cover the administrative operations of the firm from the late 19th century to the 2000s. The records include client files, communications records, and the papers of several of the firm's leaders, such as Robert Lehman.

In order to facilitate access, Baker Library has created this site as a research guide to both the deal books and the business records that make up the Lehman Brothers Collection. The site is rich in detail about the resources in the collection, as well as the historical background of Lehman Brothers and the companies represented in the deal books. It does not provide digital access to the content of the collection.

The Lehman Brothers Collection project staff prepared company histories for all companies represented in the deal books. Individually, these histories provide a framework for understanding the deals. As a group, they offer a record of the growth of modern corporate America. Print resources consulted included company histories, annual reports, prospectuses, The International Directory of Company Histories, Moody's Industrials, and Notable Corporate Chronologies. Electronic sources included The Capital Changes Reporter, Factiva, Hoover's Online, Lexis/Nexis, and ABI/ProQuest.